From DK176705 B1 is known a machine foot, which is well-suited to be used in places with high hygiene standards.
This machine foot comprises a top part for attachment in a device such as a machine and a lower part for contacting against a foundation such as a floor, where the center axis of the top part is movable a number of degrees in relation to the center axis of the lower part, and where the lower part comprises a housing, which preferably is made from a metal, and which at the bottom is provided with a polymeric material, and where the top part includes a threaded spindle and a thread shield.
The one from DK176705 B1 is characterized in that the lower part and the top part can be made and stocked as separate units that are not assembled until after a specific order, which is expedient as a finished, assembled machine foot physically is a relatively voluminous component, that requires space and thus is relatively costly to stock.
The top part and bottom part of the machine foot are assembled by inserting the top part into the bottom part.
It is however a disadvantage of the machine foot known from DK176705 B1 that the top part of the structure cannot be locked at angle in relation to the lower part, which often is a requirement in areas having high risk of earthquakes.
From US 2002/0008187 A1 (Ganter) 2002 Jan. 24 is known a machine foot, which comprises a top part for attachment in a device such as a machine, and a lower part for contacting against a foundation such as a floor, where the center axis of the top part is movable a number of degrees in relation to the center axis of the lower part, and where the lower part comprises a housing, which is made from metal, and which at the bottom is provided with a polymeric material formed as a ring that surrounds a bolt, which is screwed into the top part from the bottom.
However there is some disadvantages of the machine foot described in US 2002/0008187 A1, among these that the bolt, which is screwed into the top part from the bottom and thus attaches the top part to the bottom part, is embedded in the polymeric material, which thus can be damaged in case a tension between the top part and the bottom part occurs. In case the polymeric material is damaged in this way the top part and bottom part will afterwards not be assembled in a well-defined way, whereby cracks can arise between the parts, in which impurities and bacteria can gather. The machine foot can therefore not be approved for use in applications that have particular hygiene standards. The top part cannot be locked in relation to the lower part, which often can be a requirement to be able to cope with high displacement tensions and thereby minimize the risk of column deflection in areas having risk of earthquakes.
The embedding of the bolt in the polymeric material results as mentioned the disadvantage that the machine foot is not able to resist a physical tension between top part and bottom part. This, and the lack of locking of the top part, means that the machine foot is not usable in applications wherein there for example is risk of earthquakes. For the same reason the machine foot is not provided with means for attachment of the machine foot against the support.
In the machine foot described in US 2002/0008187 A1 there is an open gap between the bolt, which is screwed in the top part and the base from the bottom, whereby impurities and bacteria can gather in the open gap.
Furthermore, the machine foot mentioned in US 2002/0008187 A1 does not comprise seals between top part and bottom part, and can therefore be contaminated by impurities and bacteria in this area.
There are thus disadvantages of the machine foot known from US 2002/0008187 A1, as it cannot be approved for use at locations, where there is risk of earthquakes, which can cause huge tensions and displacement tensions in machine feet that are attached to a foundation by means of fastening with bolts, just as the machine foot cannot be approved for use in applications, which set out special hygiene standards.
From U.S. Pat. No. 1,102,792 is known a machine foot as mentioned in the opening paragraph. The design does not prevent that impurities and bacteria enter into the machine foot, as it does not comprise seals to prevent that.